Along the coast & across the Equator, Ecuador 7-18 September 2014

80km from San Gabriel to resort “hidden paradise”
60km to Lita
77km to San Lorenzo
97km to Atacames
5km to Sua
70km to Mompiche
87km to Pedernales
55km to Matal beach, Jama

1527 in South America
23,035km so far

From cold windy mountains to hot humid and tropical coastline, (at sea level, duh), after San Gabriel, instead of heading to Quito, we opted for a road heading Northwest to leave the mountains and drop 3000m to see the other side of South America, to enjoy warmer weather and let’s face it, give our poor tired legs a break from all that climbing.

All downhill? Easy? Not quite but we are now on the coast. It’s still not flat but it’s definitely not so tough and enjoying a beach or two! Yay!

We met a very dirty American called Robert who had cycled from Alaska and was going in our direction. He told us that his mud-spattered face was simply because he didn’t have mudguards. We cycled with him for a while but lost him after Paola and I followed a diversion. This ‘Desvio’ turned out to be huge and in fact was not just a diversion, it was a total change of route, and we were heading towards El Angel. I decided to turn back, and ignore the diversion. The guy just waved us through. I guess Robert had been smart and ignored the diversion first time so would now be way ahead of us.

The route south towards Ibarra involved some spectacular views as we descended but also hit us with climbs too and wind that often stopped us dead in our tracks even when descending.

Before Ibarra, we turned off at Salinas, to head towards the coast instead. Salinas was a tiny nothing of a town and we asked some people where there might be a hotel. The only option anywhere nearby was a resort called “Paraiso Escondido”. We had to cross a rope bridge and push the bikes up a super steep hill. The place was lovely, but I had to squash 4 giant cockroaches. It was a good thing Paola checked her shoe as it had another big cockroach in it. Clearly my shoes are so bad even the cockroaches won’t live in them!

Lita was a small town with a musty hostel. And although many people had warned us that the port San Lorenzo wasn’t safe, we had to go there to withdraw some dollars. We were in the “red zone” of Ecuador, so to be safe, we didn’t leave our hotel after dark. The rest of the coast was much nicer.

Atacames was the first big beach resort and we had a rest day there, celebrated Paola’s birthday. For her birthday present, we went whale watching, or rather, whale-chasing.
Just imagine it…. After an hour in the boat heading out to sea…”There they are!”….five motorboats speed towards them…. Photos, photos, photos, “They’ve disappeared…. No! There they are !” Motorboats speed towards them…. Etc. It wasn’t quite as magical as I might have hoped, but seeing the big grey backs and fins arching out of the water was a pretty cool experience.

We then moved on to a succession of wonderfully underdeveloped beach resorts. I loved surf haven Mompiche with its hippy vibe, and veggie cafe, Chocolate. And we had a real treat when a guy doing South America on a Vespa moped told us about the Bocana hotel in Pedernales where the owner Patricio let us stay for free, something he does quite often for people on similar adventures.
The town’s head of tourism came to meet us and gave us a map of this coastline, which has a beach about every ten to fifteen km.

Yesterday we crossed the equator. It’s the first time Paola has been in the Southern Hemisphere. What a pleasure it is to share moments like this together.

To put it simply, we are in a wonderful part of the world, and will be taking our time as we cruise southwards towards Peru.

Finally, as the thirsty cyclist, I must say that beer in Ecuador is the most drab affair. But generally they are BIG so can’t complain! For a dollar and a half (about £1) you get a half litre. Your options are Pilsener or Club. Pilsener is a bit watery so I prefer Club. There has also been a huge choice of Fresh fruit juices, and a lot of coconut juice. Lovely!

I promise to write about us cycling very far every day, climbing huge mountains and having a really tough time soon so that you might feel like sponsoring us.

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Picnic in Kensington gardens, London. Three years today Paola and I started cycling South America. Now we are in London. Happily married and enjoying life. We may not be cycling so far each day but we are cycling again. And most of all, we are together. It is time to start writing again too. And say hello to our friends around the world! ... See MoreSee Less

I'm no longer cycling the world 🚴 but life is great. Since finishing, my last update was that I was getting over being very ill with typhoid. Well, good news! I am fully recovered and adjusting to UK life, looking for a job, and getting fit again. I want to thank certain superheroes, mostly my amazing wife, Paola Ojeda, and my as-ever there for me parents (apparently you never retire if you have kids) for helping me with this adjustment.

And now the party is on! We have a party in two weeks from now to celebrate a year of marriage. I can't wait to celebrate with my family and friends! ...but sadly many of you can't come. And mostly because you don't live here.

For those who cannot come to our party and celebrate our story, I'm sharing this music video that captures the flavour of our relationship:

1. Shakira and Carlos Vives (two of Colombia's biggest stars singing about Barcelona, where we met, and Colombia where we got married (we honeymooned in Cartagena, Santa Marta and Tyrona)2. It's a song about a bicycle that carries them everywhere ("mi bici que me lleva a todos lados")3. A wierd guy with a very attractive girl, a couple that you might not have put together, but when you look at them dancing, you think "Well they seem real happy so that's ok". ... See MoreSee Less

I have been very ill, in hospital with Typhoid and Giardia this week which I brought home from India. They are infections caused by contaminated water and poor sanitation, and have horrible symptoms. Don't worry, they're not contagious. Anymore.

I'm keen for my friends to know I'm much better now, and finishing off the antibiotics at home.

The wierd thing is that I'm happy it happened, even though I missed out on a wedding I have been looking forward to for a year.

Having raised money for wateraid, I now understand, first hand, the pain that people living without clean water and sanitation go through. All you want is for the pain to stop, and go away. You lose your appetite, all the nutrients in your body, and it literally drains the colour from your skin. It is agony, with shaking, and cold sweats, a constant headache, with all your time spent running to the toilet, and at its worst, you are so weak you can barely stand up to get there. Even hooked up to a saline drip, and drinking three litres of clean water per day, I couldn't stay hydrated. The thirsty cyclist has been a name that no longer needs further explanation.

And yet I'm extremely lucky. This sickness has happened after the end of my trip, and I was already back in the UK where we have an incredible health service. My GP and the team at St George's hospital did a world class job. I'm almost completely better. And I'm in a house with beautiful clean water to drink straight from the tap. We even have a water filter just to be even safer.

The part that gets me emotional is that there are so many parts of the world with contaminated water and without the incredible medical treatment that was made available to me. Kids are drinking water, getting horribly ill, and drinking the same filthy water because they are so dehydrated. And in so many cases are dying in a horrible unthinkable way. I want to reach out to them with antibiotics to make them well, and gallons of refreshing clean water they can drink with elecrolytes to actually properly rehydrate them. I want to build pipelines so that clean water can flow to their taps, without any chance of being contaminated with urine or faeces. I want hygiene education programs so that people understand the importance of washing their hands properly when handling and preparing food. I want to know I can save one person from what I've just been through.

Well, WATERAID are doing that. And that gets me right emotional. I'm so bloody proud of the £3,606 I've raised for that cause (I've raised a similar amount for Streetchild) But now I have a renewed determination to keep raising more until I hit £10,000 for each charity.